Dress

Cristobal Balenciaga|House of Balenciaga

1960–64 · wool, silk · Costume Institute

This chic, blacker than black tunic, with its dramatic cape-like back panel, perfectly articulates Balenciaga's revolutionary modern design principles of the 1960s. The Spanish-born couturier often set himself a special tailor's test: he loved to have the garment stand away from body, thus taking form to and from the body, but seemingly separated from it, like a cantilevered balcony. Balenciaga was considered the supreme architect of twentieth-century fashion, and is remembered primarily for his virtuosity as a tailor and for his use of fabrics with a stiffer or more structured "hand."

Artist

Cristobal Balenciaga|House of Balenciaga

Date

1960–64

Medium

wool, silk

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Doris Duke, 1976